For a musician, he said, that means a lot on a lot of different levels. It means that your instrument must be in tune. It means that your voice must be in tune. That's true of all musicians. For an LDS musician, it also means that your spirit must be in tune.
For me, that basically comes down to two factors: Prayer and scripture study. Actually, Alma adds a third one: fasting. I know that when I'm doing these things more diligently, my life is more in tune, and I'm much more creative. I know that the songs I write in those times of my life are much stronger and much more full of impact.
As an additional side benefit, I often get ideas for songs from the scriptures. A recent example is "Martyrs" which came to me after contemplating the story of Alma and Amulek at the place of martyrdom. I once read that an LDS songwriter (I wish I remember who, but Janice Kapp Perry sticks out in my mind) read the Book of Mormon through with the primary intent of finding new song ideas.
This is also an ongoing process, not a "step one" that you can do and check off your list. Get started, and keep it up throughout your life. Your songs won't be the only things that benefit.
Come back often to hear about new songs and shows. Mark also has other sites and blogs, including his Dutch Oven blog: Mark's Black Pot and his LDS pop culture blog: MoBoy blog.
2 comments:
It's an interesting, but important, idea, getting in tune with the Spirit. Several years ago I decided to write a song about seeking the Lord as much as an offering to Him as anything else. It was inspired by John 1:38-39.
I wanted to work on it one evening, but I'd gotten into an argument with my wife. I can't even remember what it was about, to be honest, but I was still stewing over it. As I sat down at the piano to work I literally could not put pencil to paper. I just couldn't do it.
I was reminded of a similar experience Joseph Smith had when trying to translate the Book of Mormon. I'm not trying to imply that I'm anywhere near Joseph in the importance of my works, but the lesson was the same. I needed to repent. If I wanted the Lord to work with me, and to have my work accepted by him, I have to follow His rules. I have to keep myself humble and in tune with him. I did repent, clearing things up with my wife, and by the Lord's good grace was able to get back to work the next day.
Thank you for reminding me of that lesson.
Thanks for sharing that story. I can remember once when I was working on a song arrangement for a client, and it just simply WAS NOT working. No matter what I tried. It wasn't even a religious song, but I decided to pray about it, asking for help to break through the block. I sat back down and went to work on it, and it gradually started flowing again, and i finished the project on time.
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